Gail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
From A Precautionary Path with Kaitlin Sundling, MD, PhD! Public comment for the March 18 CDC ACIP meeting is open today, March 2, and closes March 12. You can register to make an oral comment via video conferencing at the meeting, or submit a written comment. #Vaccines #VaccinesSaveLives
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
View the docket here: www.regulations.gov/document/CDC... See the CDC’s ACIP meeting page for additional meeting details: www.cdc.gov/acip/meeting...

Regulations.gov
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Below are some key talking points for your comment, and a sample comment with references is below the divider. Please feel free to copy, modify, and share any of the text for your own advocacy.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
We need universal access to the updated COVID vaccines for people of all ages, and regardless of medical conditions, at least once a year. COVID vaccines reduce the risk of Long COVID and severe disease for people of all ages.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Vaccine recommendation frameworks must include strong ethical foundations and must make advances in disease prevention available to all. l

fda.gov/media/186593/d...
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
You should also include brief comments about why vaccination matters to you personally, such as how vaccination for COVID and a broad range of infectious diseases has positively impacted you and your community.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Optionally, at the beginning of your comment, you may also include whether or not you have any financial conflicts of interest relevant to the topic.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Don’t worry about making your comment perfect or polished–your perspective matters, and this committee needs to hear how their attacks on vaccine access are impacting all of us.

fda.gov/media/186593/d...
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Submit Your Comment Sample Comment and References Docket: CDC-2026-0199 March 2, 2026 Public Comment for the March 18, 2026, CDC ACIP Committee Meeting
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
To the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices: I have no conflicts of interest to disclose. You must reinstate unhindered universal COVID vaccine recommendations for people of all ages, at least once a year, for all COVID vaccine formulations.

fda.gov/media/186593/d...
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
COVID vaccination reduces the risk of Long COVID, severe acute disease, disability, and death for people of all ages [1-9]. Vaccination within the last year with formulations updated to match the latest circulating COVID strains is needed for the best protection.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑
Vaccine recommendation frameworks must include strong ethical foundations and make advances in disease prevention available to all. Denying access to safe and effective vaccines and treatments under the guise of research is a practice that has been recognized as unethical and unacceptable.
Mar 3 at 3:56amWeb
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Thankfully, officials in Guinea-Bissau have stopped a harmful CDC-funded trial that would have denied access to the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for thousands of babies [10].
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
This committee must recommend all safe and effective vaccines to ensure broad access at pharmacies, insurance coverage, and coverage for uninsured children through the Vaccines for Children program.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Hepatitis B, HPV, MMR, MMRV, RSV, and other vaccines prevent unnecessary infections, harmful consequences of infections, and deaths of children and adults. Vaccine access should not depend on what state you live in, and no one should die because of a lack of access to affordable vaccines.

fda.gov/media/186593/d...
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
References Link-Gelles R, Chickery S, Webber A, et al. Interim Estimates of 2024–2025 COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years — VISION and IVY Networks, September 2024–January 2025. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2025;74. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7406a1
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Appaneal HJ, Lopes VV, Nguyen JL, Volkman HR, Zasowski EJ, Caffrey AR. Early effectiveness of the BNT162b2 LP.8.1 vaccine against COVID-19 emergency department, urgent care, and outpatient visits in the US Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. medRxiv.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Preprint posted online January 23, 2026:2026.01.22.26344618. doi:10.64898/2026.01.22.26344618 Fang Z, Ahrnsbrak R, Rekito A. Evidence Mounts That About 7% of US Adults Have Had Long COVID. JAMA. Published online June 7, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.11370
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Liu C, Liu C, Yan R, et al. Association of COVID vaccinations and treatments with long COVID beyond 6 months: a case-control study on the adult population in a large integrated healthcare system in the United States from 2020 to 2023.
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Preventive Medicine Reports. 2025;57:103188. doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2025.103188
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Thaweethai T, Gross RS, Pant DB, et al. Preventive effect of vaccination on long COVID in adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccine. 2025;68:127907. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127907

fda.gov/media/186593/d...
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Le Marchand C, Singson JRC, Clark A, et al. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) cases by vaccination status in California. Vaccine. 2025;43:126499. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126499
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Link-Gelles R. Updates to COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness. Published online May 2025. Accessed September 2, 2025. www.fda.gov/media/186593...

fda.gov/media/186593/d...
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Wu N, Joyal-Desmarais K, Vieira AM, et al. COVID-19 boosters versus primary series: update to a living review. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 2023;11(10):e87-e88. doi:10.1016/S2213-2600(23)00265-5
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Menegale F, Manica M, Zardini A, et al. Evaluation of Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immunity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(5):e2310650. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.10650
Show threadGail Waldby ❌👑Mar 3
Dall C. Guinea-Bissau officials stop CDC-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial | CIDRAP. February 24, 2026. Accessed March 1, 2026. www.cidrap.umn.edu/hepatitis/gu...
Guinea-Bissau officials stop CDC-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial

The country's foreign minister told Reuters the controversial trial is "not going to happen."